Thursday, November 25, 2010

StatsCan released their monthly earning charts today and announced that earnings have risen 4.3% from last September. This is the second month that wages rose by more than 4% and proves to be yet another great sign of economic rebound in Canada. To put this in contrast, the year over year different for the better part of 2009 was -2%!

Average weekly earning grew to $864.13.

This leap not only indicates employers are paying more these days, it also reflects that employees are working more. The increase in time worked between September '10 and '09 was nearly 1%.

Newfoundland, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec all realized growth above the national average this month.

Between September 2009 and September 2010, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees rose 4.3% to $864.13. This was the second consecutive month with year-over-year growth over 4.0%.

Some of the weekly earnings growth is attributable to an increase in the number of hours worked per week between September 2009 and September of 2010 (+0.9%). The remainder of the increase reflects a number of other factors, including changes in the composition of employment by industry, changes in occupations within industry, job experience, as well as wage growth.

The pace of growth in earnings has been increasing in recent months. September marked the sixth consecutive month in which the year-over-year increase surpassed 3.0%. In contrast, year-over-year growth was below 2.0% for most of 2009.

Average weekly earnings increased in most provinces from September 2009 to September 2010. Growth was above the national average in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.

Note to readers

The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is a business census of non-farm payroll employees. Its key objective is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings, the number of jobs and hours worked by detailed industry at the national, provincial and territorial level.

Statistics Canada also produces employment estimates from its monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a household survey whose main objective is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive classifications — the employed (including the self-employed), unemployed and not in the labour force. This survey is the official source for the unemployment rate and collects data on the socio-demographic characteristics of all those in the labour market.

As a result of these conceptual and methodological differences, estimates of changes from SEPH and LFS do differ from time to time. However, the trends in the data are quite similar.

All earnings data include overtime pay and exclude businesses which could not be classified to a North American Industrial Classification System code.

Average weekly earnings are derived by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of employees.

Changes in average earnings can be influenced by a number of factors. Changes in the level of earnings, the number of payroll employees, and the number of hours worked can have an impact. Other factors could include compositional changes over time, such as changes in the proportions of full-time and part-time work; proportions of casual, senior and junior employees; the occupational distribution within and across industries; and in the distribution of employment between industries. Such effects may apply differently within different provinces and territories, and over time.

Because earnings can be influenced by any number of these factors, it is sometimes the case where earnings are moving in one direction and payroll employment is going the opposite direction (either at the aggregate level, by sector or industry).

Year-over-year growth was slowest in Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, while earnings declined slightly in New Brunswick.

Average weekly earnings by industry

Among Canada's largest industrial sectors, growth in average weekly earnings from September 2009 to September 2010 was above the national average of 4.3% in wholesale trade; accommodation and food services; administrative and support services; educational services; and professional, scientific and technical services. The slowest growth in earnings occurred in retail trade.

In the wholesale trade sector, average weekly earnings have been steadily increasing, reaching $1,031.92 in September. This was an 8.9% increase from September 2009, when earnings hit the most recent low.

Among the larger wholesale industries, the growth in earnings during this one-year period was strongest in computer and communications equipment and supplies (+15.2%); construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies (+13.3%); and food wholesalers (+13.2%).

Non-farm payroll employment by industry

In September, non-farm payroll employment edged up 0.1% (+14,100) from August, following a similar percentage increase the month before. Since September 2009, the number of payroll employees has increased by 1.6% (+236,200).

In the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector, the number of workers on payroll rose by 1.7% (+3,200) in September, the eighth consecutive monthly increase. Most of September's increase came from mining for oil and gas. Since September 2009, payroll employment in this sector has increased by 11.6% (+20,000). Payroll jobs rose in all industries in this sector during the year, led by support activities for mining and oil and gas extraction (+12,800).

In public administration, payroll employment increased by 0.7% (+7,500) in September, with gains in the federal, provincial and municipal administration. Despite the increase, payroll jobs in public administration remained 0.2% below the level in September 2009.

The number of jobs in health care and social assistance increased by 0.4% (+5,900) from August. The gains were mainly in individual and family services and general medical and surgical hospitals. Since September 2009, payroll employment in this sector has increased by 2.7% (+43,200), making it one of the top contributors to total growth over the year.

In manufacturing, payroll jobs increased by 0.4% in September (+5,600), following declines in the previous two months. Most of September's gains were in seafood product preparation and packaging; motor vehicle; and motor vehicle parts manufacturing. Since September 2009, total factory jobs have risen by 0.7% (+10,900), with most of the increases in early 2010.

In the construction sector, payroll employment has changed little since April of this year. However, compared with September 2009, jobs in this sector have risen by 3.2% (+25,600).

Hours worked and average hours worked by hourly and salaried employees

Total hours worked by hourly and salaried employees were down by 0.3% in September, the second consecutive monthly decline. Despite these decreases, total hours were up 2.1% over the past 12 months.

Average weekly hours worked by hourly and salaried employees amounted to 32.9 hours in September. This was unchanged from the previous month but up from 32.6 hours in September 2009.

Detailed industry data, data by size of enterprise based on employment, and other labour market indicators will be available soon in the monthly publication Employment, Earnings and Hours (72-002-X, free).

Data on payroll employment, earnings and hours for October will be released on December 23.

For more information, or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about revisions, concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Jeannine Usalcas (613-951-4720), Labour Statistics Division.